


The Boy in the War

by sarbear_hugs



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz, Bones (TV)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Spies & Secret Agents, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-12
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 08:55:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5702542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarbear_hugs/pseuds/sarbear_hugs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A work in progress (aka I don't know where it is going) where Booth saves Alex from a camp in the Middle East. Booth is prepared to never see the kid again but then he turns up on a crime scene in DC and Booth can't help but be suspicious.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Finding Alexi

Booth had seen plenty of horrible things over his career but this was something different. This was hell. The compound his unit was raiding stank like filth and death and the people locked in the dark rooms watched with haunted eyes. The prisoners flinched away from the soldiers as if anyone would continue to brutalize them. The unit had only found women and children and after a few hours, they thought that they had recovered all of the victims until a young child began fighting to get back to the compound shouting for and Alexi. Booth and another soldier followed the desperate boy back toward the hellhole. Something important must still be in there if he wanted to go back there.  
The trio wandered back through the dark halls and through a cell stacked with bodies. But there was a door in the back of the room that must have been missed. It was made of solid metal and didn’t have a window like the other cells. They managed to pry the door open and somehow what they found was worse. A boy was bound naked to a table hopefully unconscious as his back was shredded. The room was clearly a torture chamber and this boy had born the brunt of it.  
The small child had not entered the room but had cowered near the door of the first cell waiting with weary eyes occasionally whispering “Alexi.” Assuming that was the bound child’s name, Booth approached the boy and called softly “Alexi? Are you ok, buddy?”  
The boy’s eyes fluttered by he didn’t lift his head.  
“Bruce, we got to get him out of here. Call a medic.” Booth warned his partner. “Alright man, you watch my back and I’ll carry him out” Bruce responded.  
Booth turned to face the door while Bruce pulled out a knife to cut the boy loose before lifting the child bridal style and following Booth back out of the compound with the other child on their heels.  
The medics went to work on him right away, placing him back on his stomach so that most of his open wounds were exposed for treatment. Booth hated to leave the child but there were other things that called his attention away.

 

He next saw the boy the next day when visiting one of his wounded teammates. The child was sitting up, eating a standard ration meal. He wouldn’t have recognized the boy if the first young child who had led soldiers back to the compound wasn’t sitting at the food of the bed. Booth did a double take and walked back into the curtained area around them.  
“Hello there boys, do you remember me?”  
The younger child turned and obviously did recognize Booth right away. He then practically leapt from the bed, almost upsetting the food resting there. The child wrapped his arms around Booth’s legs, babbling in what appeared to be Russian, and Booth couldn’t understand a word. The boy in the bed smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.  
“Sorry buddy, but I can’t understand you, it seems like you are doing ok.”  
“He is” the boy from the bed replied startling Booth. “He is thanking you for saving both of us.” There was no emotion in the tortured boy’s voice, and it had a slight Russian accent.  
“Well, you’re welcome.” Booth smiled at both of them. “I’m glad you guys are doing ok. Especially you,” nodding at the boy in the bed. “I wasn’t sure if you would survive that.”  
“So you pulled me out?”  
“My team and I did.” Now the boy wouldn’t look Booth in the eye. “You sure you’re going to be ok, kid?” Booth moved towards the hurting child. Only when Booth reached out to touch him on the shoulder did the kid flinch away, deliberately staring at the wall. “Sorry kid,” Booth retracted his hand. “Need anything?”  
“No… Thanks… again for everything.”  
“Sure thing man. Just ask for Booth if anyone gives you a hard time, alright?”  
“Yah, thanks” the boy finally looked back up at Booth for a moment.  
Booth left, half hoping that the kid would call him back or, at least, call for him later but he didn’t see or hear from the kid again. Regardless, what he had seen in that torture chamber haunted him for weeks, jumbled in with other horrors of the battlefield. Eventually, he came to accept that he had forever lost track of “Alexi” since nobody he talked to could ever tell him the child’s fate. 

==============================================================

Booth was glad to be back in the states and he never spoke much about what happened overseas. Sure had talked to Hannah some but they didn’t dwell on what they couldn’t change. Bones and the other squints would never understand so he kept it to himself. Most if didn’t bother him much anymore anyway but he still woke with nightmares about dark torture chambers and rent flesh.  
Since his real daily life involved plenty of gruesome things he wasn’t surprised to be called to an alley where Bones was crouching behind a dumpster. He watched the squint squad poke around. “What do we have here Bones?”  
“A thirty-year-old male in good shape with what could be various defensive wounds and a gunshot to the temporal lobe.”  
“So open and shut. ID?”  
“None so far,” Hodgins answers from inside the dumpster “but we have enough flesh for DNA…probably.”  
“Okey dokey, back to the lab.” Both sing-songed while exiting the alley to escape the smell. “I got to head back to the office and… do some… FBI stuff. Let me know if you find anything.”  
Motion caught in the corner of his eye. Some shouted from the end of the alley and someone was running. Booth rushed to the main street to see another agent chasing a slight figure in a grey hoodie. Turning and running back through the crime scene, Booth took a back way to cut off the runner.  
He sprinted through another alley and turned a corner as grey hoodie flashed by. Now Booth was almost a yard behind but they ran for another few blocks before the runner failed to dodge a young woman carrying groceries and they both fell to the ground. The runner would have gotten away except that Booth proceeded to tackle him. There was a short struggle before Booth got the man cuffed and on his feet. At that moment, the second FBI agent caught up with them out of breath.  
“Thanks, Sir. He was in our crime scene, but when I tried to stop him he ran for it.”  
“No problem, Brooks. What was he doing in our crime scene?”  
“No idea. You’re gonna have to ask him.”  
“Alright, back we go. Don’t try anything funny.” Booth had a firm hand on the mysterious man’s arm and pulled his hood down. What he found stopped him in his tracks. It was the boy from the compound. From the torture chamber. When the boy saw him, his eyes widened but before either of them could react a woman screeched.  
“Tom!”  
A middle-aged woman dashed up to them. “Oh, poor boy! What’s happened? There must be some mistake officers! This poor thing wouldn’t hurt a fly!” she pleaded, honestly surprised that the boy would be in trouble. She also caught the agent’s completely off guard.  
“Its OK, Mrs. Henderson, I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding. It will be ok.”  
“But you poor boy! Officers you can’t take this boy! He didn’t do anything wrong.”  
Booth finally got his wits about him. “Mam, if he didn’t do anything wrong they there shouldn’t be a problem. We just need to talk to him and he didn’t stop when asked.”  
“But you can’t arrest him! He’s a good boy! He works here in my grocery and he hasn’t put a tow out of line since he got here!”  
“Mam, you are making a scene. We are going to have to take him down to the station to ask some questions but nothing bad will happen if he didn’t do anything wrong.”  
“Poor thing lives alone just a few blocks away. He doesn’t need the trouble!”  
The other FBI agent finally got frustrated and reached out to gently push the woman away. “Why would he be in our crime scene then?”  
That took her aback. “Crime Scene?!” She turned the boy. “Tom, what are they talking about a crime scene?”  
“I don’t know Mar. Henderson. Before I knew what was going on these guys were chasing me.” The boy pulled an innocent puppy dog face. “I ducked under some yellow tape but that was just to get out of my front door!” His voice sounded increasingly frightened but something didn’t sit right with Booth’s gut. He knew this kid wouldn’t be scared. This kid had survived hell.  
“See!” the woman cried. “It was just a misunderstanding. Please don’t bother to make trouble for everyone!”  
The other agent was buying it. “Sir, maybe they are right…”  
“Mam, I am afraid he ran when my agent asked him to stop. We are going to have to, at least, talk to him about his resisting arrest.” Booth gave the boy’s arm a tug and marched him back to the crime scene and then into the back of a police cruiser. The told the cop to take the kid to the FBI. He could deal with that later. 

“What was all that about?” Asked Cam when Booth wandered back to the scene.  
“Don’t know yet but I’m going to have to deal with it later. Anything more for me here?”  
“Nope. We will let you know. Keep me updated too.”  
“Sure, sure,” Booth said over his shoulder as he made his way back to his car.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello again all! :)
> 
> I am just going to leave this here for you to pursue. Please let me know what you think and where you would like to see it go. I don't have much of a plan....maybe a little plan but not much so...yah
> 
> It is coming slowly and steady. I am working on something else at the same time so I am kinda busy and....yah....
> 
> Thanks for your time reading and commenting- you guys make it all worth it <3

The kids was put in an interrogation room and left to wait. Waiting was the worst and he hated it. There wasn’t even anything interesting to look at in here.  
“Can I have something to read?” he asked the to empty room, “or a deck of cards or something?” Hi sighed for a moment when he got no reply, not that he expected one. This wasn’t his first rodeo. Eventually the door opened and a middle-aged woman came in. She was not what he had expected. He had actually expected Booth.   
She smiled but didn’t seem excited to be there. “Hello, My name is Maria Sandquez and I am your representative form child services.”  
“Thanks, but no thanks,” responded Alex, crossing his arms and leaning back in the uncomfortable plastic chair.   
“Sorry, but you don’t get a say in this, Tom.”  
“I’m seventeen and living on my own. That should count as being an adult.”  
“Well, I’m afraid it doesn’t”  
“So, are they actually charging me with something?”  
“No, but I am required for the questions they want to do.”  
“Whatever you say.” Alex shrugged and then determinately ignored her. That seemed to peeve her somewhat. Just what Tom Gardner would do. He didn’t care for authority figures. Now that he thought about it, Alex didn’t particularly like the authority figures either. Either way he was stuck undercover in an interrogation room in a murder investigation. This was just where he did not want to be. He was meant to be investigating a possible child smuggling ring, as the perfect target, a young teen all-alone in the big city. Now he was going to have to be sure not to be arrested. How did he always get tuck with child trafficking cases? He hated them really but hopefully before long hew would appear to old for that realm of investigation. Maybe his next assignment would involve a luxury hotel.  
She tried to start a few conversations with him he chose not to respond. This obviously frustrated her but eventually got the idea and left him alone again, and the waiting game began again. 

Booth watched the kid through the one-way glass but he couldn’t believe his eyes. This impossible boy. They all called him Tom but Booth knew better. This boy was special but what was there to do with him? Should Booth do anything at al? He knew he needed more information so he walked through the hall into the interrogation room. The kid didn’t even look up but sat and bored holes into the wall with a glare.   
“So, what are we going to do here?” Booth asked casually.  
“Well you seem to be in charge so I am betting you are going to tell me,” Alex smired.  
“Sure. This isn’t official-“  
“So why should I bother? Shouldn’t my counselor or whatever be in here Wouldn’t want me to say anything incriminating.” The sarcasm was thick in his voice.   
“Well…” Booth was stumped by the kid’s sudden aggression. Where did this angry kid come from suddenly?  
The door slammed open and Ms. Sandquez stormed in with agent on her heals. “What are you doing in here without an advocate?” she demanded. “This is unconstitutional! Tom should be released immediately.   
Before she could take her second breath Booth stool with his hands up backing away from Alex. “Sorry, we were just talking! No harm dome.”  
“How dare you try to take advantage of a minor. Booth, I thought better of you! Now I demand that you release Tom into my custody. If you have something you wish to charge him with you know how to contact me.”   
“And you don’t get to talk to Tom without my presence.”  
“Don’t get snippy with me!”  
“so are either of you going to ask me what I think?” The snippy words from Alex made them both turn to look at the completely calm boy. “I mean you are trying to decide what to do with me.”  
“Oh, Tom, sorry, but would you really want to stay here? You have already been here for hours.”  
“Maybe I want to talk to Booth?” That stumped the both for a moment. They looked at each other in confusion.  
“Why would you want to talk to Booth?” She couldn’t understand.   
“I didn’t say that I wanted to, just that you might take my opinion into consideration rather than treating me like a brick wall.” Both agent and advocate were clearly uncomfortable.  
“Tell me what you want to know Booth.”  
“Tom, don’t say anything.”  
“I didn’t say I would respond. I am curious as to what he wants from me…”  
“Fair enough,” Both broke in. “Honestly he was wondering what he wanted from the kid. Maybe he was losing his mind. Booth had to think about this. He wanted to task the kid how he was doing, why he had been in the desert and why h was here now. He had so many questions but they would sound crazy. Suddenly he realized that he needed to talk to Bones first. She would know what to do, assuming she believed him. Honestly, he wouldn’t have believed himself.  
“I can understand that, Tom,” she said, “I am wondering what Booth wants with you too.” She took the seat next to Alex looking expectantly at the agent.   
Booth slowly walked to the table and sat down. “I have looked at your file, Tom and it sounds like you have had a rough time of it. You are living on your own right?”  
“Yes,” Alex nodded. Why deny something that was written down in the file on the table? But the attorney still glared at him  
“So why don’t you live with your family?”  
“You said you read my file, you should know that I don’t have anyone.”  
“Why not foster care?”  
“You ever met someone in the system? Sounds like it sucks. I’m seventeen and old enough to take care of myself.”  
“Sure, sure. You are living in kinda a rough neighborhood.”  
“You try making your way on minimum wage, you can’t be picky about where you live.”  
“Have an answer for everything, don’t ‘ya?”  
“Maybe because you are asking stupid questions.”  
“Get to the point Booth,” the attorney interjected.  
“Fine, why did you run, Tom?”  
“The agent saw me leave the alley and I really wanted to avoid all this,” Alex gestured at the interrogation room. “Now, who knows if I will even have my minimum wage job because I am supposed to be there now!” he had gotten angrier as he spoke and was then glaring daggers at Booth.   
“Any more questions, Booth?” there was venom in her voice now.  
“No,” he didn’t know what else he could ask. He couldn’t shake the familiarity that he felt for the boy but the file stated he didn’t have a passport so there was no way he could have been overseas. “You can go, Tom, but be careful, ok kid?”  
“I’m not a kid,” but Alex clearly looked relieved to be released.  
“Booth walked into the veining room and pulled up the recording of their conversation. He needed the boy’s picture for Bones to look at.


End file.
